Nelly Korda going for LPGA record sixth straight win. Hall-of-Famer Stacy thinks she can do it

SARASOTA — Named after pro golfer and Bradenton resident Nelly Korda, The Nelly Invitational was held last week at her home course, the Bradenton Country Club.

Club and World Golf Hall of Fame member Hollis Stacy wanted one favor from Korda.

“Going to ask her to touch my putter,” the 70-year-old said.

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The eyes of the golfing world will be focused this week on the Cognizant Founders Cup in New Jersey. That’s where Korda will try to make history by becoming the first LPGA player to win six consecutive tournaments. If so, she will pass the record held by Annika Sorenstam and Nancy Lopez of five victories in a row. After winning her fifth straight, and second major title, the Chevron Championship, Korda withdrew from the JM Eagle LA Championship at the Wilshire Country Club in Los Angeles.

Stacy will be watching with interest. In a career which started in 1974, the Bradenton Country Club member since 2010 won four major championships and 18 LPGA Tour events. Inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2012, Stacy said what Korda has accomplished is remarkable.

And then again, it isn’t.

“She has worked so hard to come back from her (back) injury and her surgery,” she said. “It just shows how much she really wanted to get back, and she really got back. It’s not a surprise she has done this. If someone was going to do it, Nelly was going to do it. Her power and her efficiency with her swing, and her all-around game. Her ability to get the ball in the hole.”

Stacy explained further.

“She’s got an all-around game,” she said. “Her swing is simple, she is efficient, and she has a strong short game. The putting is directly related to how you’re hitting the ball. They have an expression: Pros putting for par is like dogs chasing cars. If you do that, you’re doomed. She is hitting lots of greens, she is hitting lots of fairways. But if she happens to not hit the green, she still has the ability to get the ball in the hole.

“I think she is confident right now, and I think she has surrounded herself with the right people to keep her focused on what she’s doing. She is not walking around with her arms straight out like a zombie. She is as normal as the day is long. But once she gets her shoes and her glove on, she stays in the moment. Right now.”

Stacy said Korda’s tourney winning streak is impressive given the depth of the field compared to when she played.

“The same score won,” she said, “but there are more people at minus-12 to minus-15. There are more people shooting that. The ladies are hitting it longer because of the equipment and the physical (training) right now.”

And what makes Korda’s run even more impressive is they’ve happened on five different types of courses, in varying conditions.

“Bradenton is a Donald Ross course where the greens are wicked as hell,” Stacy said. “And she plays in Vegas on the Steve Wynn course where there are trees everywhere. Then she won in Phoenix when it was freezing and the course was wide open.”

With Korda having won five straight, Stacy thinks her goals now might shift.

“It’s going to be impossible for her to win every one,” she said. “She has important tournaments coming up. She has the (Amundi) Evian (Championship), the U.S. Women’s Open, and the KPMG (Women’s PGA Championship). She has won two majors. She is validating herself as we speak.”

Five weeks after having knee replacement surgery, Stacy recently shot a 1-over for nine holes at the Bradenton Country Club.

Perhaps Korda touched her putter and knee.

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Winner of five tournaments in a row, Korda goes for her sixth this week in New Jersey